Greening the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: Legal Levers and Limitations

在气候紧急情况下努力实现可持续发展目标的世界中，需要从环境透镜的角度来审视国际贸易协定，因为之前的研究表明，温室气体排放量与自由贸易同时增加。具体而言，随着2019年非洲大陆自由贸易区协定（AfCFTA）的生效，非洲大陆现在是世界上最大的区域自由贸易区。AfCFTA预计将增加整个非洲大陆的贸易和人均收入，因此该项目的首要研究问题是如何将AfCFTA利用为以环境可持续方式促进经济增长的工具？这项研究旨在使AfCFTA秘书处和非洲国家政府的气候和贸易政策制定者受益，因为他们正在应对气候紧急情况。

In a world striving to attain sustainable development objectives in the context of a climate emergency, international trade agreements need to be examined through an environmental lens given that previous research shows that greenhouse gas emissions increase hand in hand with free trade. Specifically, with the 2019 African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) in force, the African continent is now home to the world's largest regional free trade area. AfCFTA is anticipated to increase both trade and income per capita across the African continent, so the overarching research question of this project is how can AfCFTA be harnessed into a tool that boosts economic growth in an environmentally sustainable manner? This research seeks to benefit climate and trade policy makers at the AfCFTA Secretariat and national African governments as they navigate aglobal climate emergency.